The United Methodist Church lost one-fourth of its U.S. churches in a recent schism, with conservatives departing over disputes on sexuality and theology. Now, with the approach of its first major legislative gathering in several years, the question is whether the church can avert a similar outcome elsewhere in the world, where about half its members live. (Smith, AP News)
Read MoreWhile the Catholic Church itself holds that abortion is wrong and should not be legal, 6 in 10 U.S. adult Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a newly released profile of Catholicism by Pew Research. (DeRose, NPR)
Read MoreAcross the country, fractures are emerging among conservative and centrist Republican women, as they confront an unrelenting drumbeat of new abortion bans and court rulings. (Dias & Lerer, The New York Times)
Read MoreViewers tuned in en masse to Court TV to watch more than eight months of proceedings in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, bolstering the culture’s appetite for true crime. The 24/7 cable news cycle became a permanent fixture. But the spectacle also helped shape another emerging genre, reality TV. (Yahr & Izadi, The Washington Post)
Read MoreFor evangelicals seeking candidates who reflect their values and beliefs more closely than either of the major parties, some have backed indepedent candidates or found new political homes in lesser-known third parties. (Prude, Christianity Today)
Read MoreA New Jersey court will wrestle with the beach closure and whether the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which owns the property, has the right to impose religiously motivated restrictions on the public. (Bailey, The New York Times)
Read More